James 4:13 - 5:6 ~ Boasting about Tomorrow and Warning to the Rich

How many of us make plans for the future? I daresay, all of us. But how many of us acknowledge God's sovereignty in our plans?

The last segment of James 4 teaches us that planning without including God in the picture is a form of arrogant boasting. Such boasting is evil as one fails to understand that all things, including these future plans, happen according to God's will. Those who plan as such with a future profit in mind have also forgotten what James taught us in James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. This planner neglects to acknowledge that God is the source of all good things including the future profit that he has planned for - he is not to claim credit for whatever profit he makes and demonstrate self-centredness by so doing.

Chapter 5 continues on the theme of profit by warning the rich not to self-indulge at the expense of oppressing others. They are told that their earthly riches are not eternal and the irony of fattening oneself in a day of slaughter (James 5:5) points towards impending judgment.

How about us? How do we fare? Do we store up treasures for ourselves that do not last? Or do we lay our treasures in heaven as we seek the riches of His Kingdom first?